Album Review: Gold Panda - Good Luck And Do Your Best

Gold Panda has always been one of the most peculiar producers out there. At least for me.

I can't really say I know much about the person behind the moniker, besides his avid affection for Asian cultures (the Japanese one in particular) and the name Derwin.

Put shortly, the Good Luck And Do Your Best is the soundtrack of those times you really wanna be with yourself. As always, a tiny bit of disclaimer from my side - not sure if everyone would label the next lines as label review. I rather feel its a direct and nearly non-edited version of the thoughts which came to my mind after a few listens and while listening to the record.

The diversity which awaits you is just incredible. After the kind of Gold Panda-ish intro track "'Metal Bird" and the mind-blowing (and currently favourite) "In My Car", "Chiba Nights" is definitely the first sign of the fact that things won't be monotonous. Everything past that is a music journey which could take you literally anywhere. What I mean by saying that is the fact that I feel that depending on your current state of mind, you may experience the album differently. I think that's partially because the idea behind the album itself stemmed from a documentary he wanted to create with photographer Laura Lewis about his stay in Japan. That eventually evolved into Good Luck And Do Your Best and it could be nothing but something utterly personal, which naturally could be picked when listening to the record.

The album seriously feels like an influx of complicated and weird but somehow fitting pieces together. The track which is currently on as I write those lines - "Autumn Fall", for example, is such an upbeat and positive wave of sounds, it could easily be the soundtrack of a summer afternoon with friends somewhere in the nature. It felt such an awesome surprise among the already pleasant change between experimental electronics and ambient music.

As always, I highly recommend listening to all 11 tracks from start to finish, at least the first time you "encounter" Good Luck And Do Your Best. Truly amazing record.

ps. the album title is inspired by the words of a taxi driver Gold Panda and his photographer used in Japan... simple, yet so *enter an adjective here*